It can also indicate factors incident to menopause. There are also a few more serious
conditions which can give rise to low alkaline phosphatase levels. In all cases,
when a blood test indicates low alkaline phosphatase levels, further diagnostic procedures
are indicated to discover the reason for the result and allow for appropriate treatment.

Causes

Malnutrition is the most common cause of low alkaline phosphatase. In particular,
inadequate consumption of vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium
are the most common nutritional causes, along with excess consumption of vitamin
D. All of these can result from a poor, inadequately varied diet, although there
are some medical conditions which interfere with the processing of certain vitamins
and minerals which can have the same result.

Scurvy is a condition caused by prolonged
vitamin C deficiency. Low alkaline phosphatase is one of the early indicators of
this deficiency, which can lead to more serious symptoms later on if it continues
(eventually being fatal).

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the production of
hormones by the thyroid glad is below normal. This condition can also result in low
ALP levels. Hypothyroidism tends to occur in older people, more commonly in women
who are past menopause.

Anemia can result from causes that range from injury and
loss of blood, to nutritional deficiency primarily in iron, to infections. Anemia
can also cause low ALP levels.

Because ALP levels can be low due to a variety of
different causes, further diagnostic work is normally required when this result shows
in a blood test to determine the precise cause.

Continued below....

Alkaline Phosphatase Low

Treatment

Treatment depends on the underlying cause of the low ALP levels. If the cause is
a nutritional deficiency, as is most common, treatment consists of restoring normal
and healthy dietary levels to correct the deficiency. However, this requires determining
the specific nature of the deficiency, which can be discovered through further diagnostic
testing or simply by examining the patient's diet.

If the cause is hypothyroidism,
the appropriate treatment is replacement of thyroid hormones with synthetics such
as levothyroxine. As with nutritional deficiencies, further diagnostic work is required
to eliminate other causes and determine that hypothyroidism is actually involved.

If the cause is a form of anemia, treatment will depend on the type of anemia present,
but always consists of efforts to bring blood volume or red blood cell count (as
appropriate) up to normal, healthy levels.

Prognosis

In almost all cases, the prognosis with low ALP levels is good. Nutritional deficiencies,
which are the most common cause, are easily corrected and, unless they have progressed
to severe stages, do not result in significant permanent harm. There are a few causes
of the low ALP blood test result which have more guarded prognosis. These include
aplastic anemia, chronic myelogenous lukemia, Wilson's disease, achronodroplastia,
and cretinism.

Comments

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an enzyme present in all human tissues throughout the
body. The bulk of it, however, is found in the liver, where most of it is produced.
A blood test for ALP can reveal different conditions when the enzyme is either higher
or lower than the normal range. High ALP indicates spurts of bone growth. These can
be normal and healthy (e.g. at puberty or during pregnancy), or they can indicate
pathological conditions of the skeletal system such as Paget's disease or osteomalacia.

Low levels of ALP indicate a great variety of problems: malnutrition, hypothyroidism,
scurvy, deficiency of the essential mineral nutrients zinc and magnesium, anemia,
and others.